Warrior
by Servatika
Summary: Rumors are going around at the Preventer Organization about another pilot that was supposed to be part of Operation Meteor. As the ex-pilots look into the matter, they soon discover that there's a vigilante on the loose eliminating former White Fang and Oz members. Is there a connection? Can the boys solve the mystery?
1. Dispelling Rumors

A/N: This is the first story I've written since ... well in a very long time. It's an idea I had before and I've decided to write it out. I'd appreciate feedback. :) Enjoy!

* * *

**AC 200 … Colony L4**

There were rumors of a female gundam pilot.

How these rumors began was a complete mystery to the Preventer Organization. Out of nowhere, the office was filled with gossip on another gundam pilot fighting for justice alongside them. There had been no indication of a female gundam pilot from the time the five original pilots began Operation Meteor to now. Still, the rumors continued. It was a mysterious phenomenon. Although the five ex-pilots believed the rumors held no water, the head of the organization on L4, Lady Une, wished to quell these rumors by seeking any truth to the matter. After all, sometimes there was a grain of truth in every lie. None of them were pleased with their current mission, especially Heero and Wufei. Even so, the five of them continued on with their task. The faster they would dispel the rumors, the faster they would return to the real missions they so desired.

So the next afternoon, the investigations began with the five ex-pilots questioning their former mentors. After meeting with Lady Une on the details of their current mission, they walked alongside one another down the large parking lot towards their own cars, ready to make their trip to their respective mentors from the war. Contrary to public knowledge, the scientists had miraculously survived the explosion on Peacemillion during the war. They were found floating among the debris in space. All were unconscious and badly wounded from the explosion, but they were safe nonetheless. After their recovery, they've gone their separate ways and settled down into the clandestine lifestyles they've so longed for since the war. Only the Preventer Organization was aware of their survival.

"It's a little ridiculous, don't you think?" Duo nudged Quatre, who walked beside him. "The things people make-up these days, and now we have to go check up on it." Duo rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed.

"You mean the rumors?" A skeptical smile was etched on Quatre's face, "Yeah, I don't see how it's possible. How did people come up with the idea?"

"Well," Wufei interjected with his arms crossed, "some people were thinking that this _other_ pilot would act as a replacement if any of us failed the mission."

_I suppose that makes sense_. Quatre mused.

"If that were the case, wouldn't this person have appeared during the time of the war?" Heero said gruffly.

_That is also true. So why now? _Quatre sighed, and then he looked over to Trowa, "What do you think, Trowa?"

Trowa, hearing his name called, glanced at Quatre before answering, "I think this is a complete waste of our time. Like what Heero said, 'why hasn't the person appeared during the war'?"

It was true. If there was someone that was meant to be a so called replacement for any of them, why did the person's existence only become known now? At the same time, this person couldn't be working alongside them. Unlike the war where the adopted mindset was to kill or be killed, today, they followed a more passive mindset where they didn't wish to kill anyone unless they had no other choice. This other pilot was acting like they were back in war.

"Although," Trowa began to say, "there have been news on a new group, former OZ and White Fang members conducting illegal transactions of military weapons and gundanium alloy. Of course, that detail was removed from the news."

Wufei hummed, recalling the news report, "That's right. In fact, the news didn't even make the front page. It only made a petty portion in the newspaper for one day then the next, it's gone, because the important details were classified from the public."

A frustrated groan was heard from Duo who began scratching his head in irritation. "Yeah, yeah, we've heard about that during the last meeting with Une. Their operation had completely flown under our radar, but fortunately the deal was botched because of some disagreement between the groups, and they all killed each other."

"Or so it appears," Heero grunted.

_That's right. _Quatre's eyes lit up in recollection. "Lady Une mentioned it was a little suspicious considering there have been two other incidents and each incident ended up in failure and their leader assassinated. We've concluded that it was just a conflict between groups and immediately dismissed it." This time Quatre had a puzzled look on his face. "Is it possible that this other pilot is involved?"

No one said anything. Was there really another person, their supposed replacement in the war, eliminating the leaders of the underground groups from the White Fang and OZ organizations? It seemed a little far-fetched, but that didn't stop any of them thinking of the likelihood of this rumor to be actually true. Someone could have eliminated their adversaries just like they would have done back during the war. This person could have planted themselves in either group and took out the leader. The more they thought about it, the more theories their brains supplied. It was not until they had reached the closest car, Duo's own, when the silence was finally broken.

Duo waved to the group, "Anyway, I'll see you guys back at headquarters next week. Gotta check with G back in L2." He took out his keys and grumbled, "Man, the things people come up with these days."

With that, he entered his car and was on his way. Not too long after, the rest of the group had said their goodbyes and left in their own cars to their mentors' home. As they drove, the same thought crossed their minds:

"Is it possible?"

* * *

Quatre was the fortunate one among the group regarding his mentor. Unlike the others, Instructor H's location was on the same colony the main headquarters currently resided. He looked down at the paper in his hands that his mentor gave him long ago. On it were directions to the man's address. Quatre nodded, mentally working out the route he needed to take to his destination. As soon as he drove past the business district, the once busy streets of L4 slowly began to trickle down to nothing. It was quite refreshing to Quatre. He had been so busy lately managing his father's company together with his sister, Iria, and working with the Preventers Organization with the other ex-pilots that he almost forgot how calming this was.

He let out a calming sigh. _We should find some time off to just relax and have fun_.

When Quatre caught sight of the familiar rustic part of L4, he slowed down, knowing he would be arriving shortly as his destination. There were very few buildings in this area, and many of the buildings were divided by beautiful greenery, be it fields or an entire forest. Still the beauty they tried to bring from the Earth could never be compared. Soon enough, he saw a simple ivory-colored home up ahead. It was a charming one-story home with blue-gray roof, just as his mentor described on the paper. He parked by the curb and looked at his surroundings. It felt so serene just being there. There were no sounds of the hustle and bustle of busy people hurrying off to work or even the sounds of car engines zooming by every minute. All that Quatre could hear was the sound of the wind breezing by, the delicate laughter of some children playing, and the chirping of the birds that dwelled in the area. It was very tranquil.

Quatre stepped out of his car and walked over to the mailbox in front of the house. On the mailbox was a nameplate: Gerard Holtzclaw. This was Instructor H's real name. Since the end of the war, all of the creators of the gundams have gone back to using their real names; names that lead no trace to their former lives to all but the Preventers Organization. After seeing the nameplate, Quatre was sure that this was the home of his former mentor. He walked past the mailbox and knocked on the door of his mentor's home.

There was no answer.

Quatre knocked again, louder this time, thinking that maybe the thumping went unheard the first time. Still, there was no response. He frowned and decided to take a look around the house. The right wing of the house had a patio gazebo furnished with a table and a couple chairs. Not too far from that was a hammock, rocking gently from the afternoon breeze. As Quatre walked around the house, he soon found himself standing in front of a greenhouse. Its door was left open. Quatre walked inside and was amazed at the vast greenery surrounding him. There were different types of plants growing there, he noted, and many of them were exotic.

"This is amazing," Quatre murmured.

Suddenly, he heard a small rustle up ahead.

"Hello?" Quatre called out. "Is someone here?"

From above the foliage in front of him, a head popped up. It had to be his mentor. Quatre walked over to him and found him standing in front of a group of plants, working his gloved hands on the soil. They were hydrangeas, if memory served him right.

"Quatre, what a surprise!" Gerard glanced at Quatre before turning back to his work. "What brings you here? Is another war upon us already?"

Quatre shook his head amusingly. "Of course not. We're making sure peace remains on Earth and the colonies for a long time."

"Oh so then I ask again, my boy. What bring you here?" He continued tending to the hydrangeas.

"Instructor – "

"Quatre," his mentor smiled wryly, "I haven't been called as such since the war. Please, just call me Gerard."

"Ah, of course, Gerard." Quatre chuckled.

Gerard chortled at the sound of his name. It would be something Quatre was going to get used to. "Now, what is it that you came here for? It must be pretty important."

He watched his mentor work and decided that it would be best to get straight to the point. "I wanted to ask about another gundam pilot. A woman perhaps?"

There was a pause before Gerard fully turned his attention on Quatre. His brows furrowed. "Female gundam pilot?"

"Yes."

Gerard hummed and asked, "What brought this on?"

"Well, there were rumors going around the organization about it."

"Were there any evidence indicating as such?"

"No, but— "

"That's why you're here." Gerard smiled and began to peel off the sullied gloves, "Let's sit in my patio. We can talk comfortably there."

At the patio, Gerard had offered Quatre some iced tea, which he accepted obligingly. When the two of them sat under the comfortable shade of the patio, Quatre took that moment to see how much his mentor had changed the past couple years. Gerard had lost some weight, no longer being the stout mad scientist everyone remembered. On the other hand, he still kept his thin, dark mustache as sharp as ever. Gerard's normal white button-up shirt and black tie wrapped with his lab coat were replaced with a pastel blue polo shirt and brown pants. Even the strained appearance of having to work night and day on the gundams was gone. Quatre remembered him usually covered in the grime and sweat from his hard work. Now with the war over, there was an air of contentment around his mentor. It was a definite change from the war; a really good change.

"So," Gerard began, "there are rumors about a female gundam pilot?"

Quatre nodded. "Yes. Lady Une asked to look into it in case there was any truth to the matter."

"What have you found so far?"

"At first the thought was ridiculous seeing as how this female gundam pilot was supposed to act as a substitute if any of us had failed the mission, and we haven't heard anything until now. But lately there have been reports of failed transactions between former White Fang and OZ members usually ending with the leader eliminated. We were thinking maybe it was possible."

Gerard took a sip of his tea. "Well it certainly sounds possible, but I haven't heard of such a story during the war. As far as I'm aware, there were no replacements ready."

I guess it really is all a rumor. The operations were probably just conflicts between the groups.

"But if you ask me, Quatre," Gerard began, "I wouldn't completely throw out the idea of someone behind the assassinations of those groups."

Quatre arched his brow. "Do you know something about the assassinations?"

"Sorry, I do not, but if I happen to find out something, I'll let you know."

"Ah well, I guess this was all for naught." Quatre stood up and placed his glass upon the table. "Thank you for your help, Gerard. I should get going. It was really good to see you again after so long."

Gerard waved his hand back to Quatre's seat. "Sit, sit. I'm sure you're in no hurry to return anyway. How about we just relax for a bit before you go? We can just sit and talk like the old times; an old mentor and his former student."

There was a gentle smile on Quatre's face before he sat down and talked with his old mentor until darkness began to settle.

* * *

TBC


	2. The Arrival

Title: Warrior

Part 2/6

A/N: I know the first part was probably a little dull, but things will get better as it progresses (I would like to think so).

Chapter 2: The Arrival

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The following week, the other ex-pilots returned from their trips with no conclusive evidence of a female pilot. With no significant leads, Lady Une decided to close the case. It had been a couple of days since the rumors died down, much to everyone's relief. Now they could get back into the field and deal with real people who actually exist. At their return from their previous mission, they were given a field assignment on a corrupt government official, Demitri Strauss. There was evidence suggesting he was planning on assassinating one of the higher authorities to gain a position of power; however, there was not enough evidence. They had to find something more substantial, which explained their current covert mission; to gather evidence to prove Demitri's scheme. Today, Demitri was planning to meet with some shady individuals who were known to kill their targets if given the right price. The meeting was taking place at a coffee shop within the business district. An open crowded area to conceal suspicion and to avoid any underhanded deeds. It was no doubt the meeting choice of the mercenaries. While most of the ex-pilots took their positions around the perimeter, prepared for any mishaps, Quatre was the one inside the shop watching Demitri. He was seated by the window allowing the others to watch him from outside for any signals. His position offered a clear view of Demitri who sat about four tables over and two to the left. It was perfect.

"Would you like more coffee, sir?" The waitress came by the table with a smile.

Quatre returned the smile. "Yes, please."

As the waitress turned away, Quatre kept a furtive eye on Demitri. In order not appear conspicuous, Quatre pretended to read a novel that he brought along for the appearance.

"Excuse me, sir?"

Quatre looked up from the book, expecting the waitress again. For a second, he lost his voice. Before him was a woman with the most beautiful and extraordinary navy-blue eyes he had ever seen. Her eyes glistened from the light pouring in from the window. The more he stared, the deeper he drowned in her eyes. He felt a familiar emotion in them, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it, which only seemed to allure him more. The polite smile she wore was just as stunning. Although seemingly awkward and shy, he found it, overall, cute. Then, he noticed her lips. Her moist supple pink lips formed in a small frown.

_Wait, why…?_

It was then he realized she had asked a question in which he had failed to respond. Quatre blinked, reminding himself to regain composure.

"Sir?" She tilted her head to get a better look of his face.

"Ah yes." Finally, he found his voice. "Is there something I can help you with?"

She smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry to interrupt your reading but I was wondering if I may sit with you for lunch?"

Quatre looked at her, questioningly. There were other seats available around him—several empty tables in fact.

As if knowing what was going through his mind, she replied, "I know it seems rather odd for a stranger to ask, but I was hoping for a seat by the window so I can read my book before I go back to work."

The moment she had mentioned work, Quatre looked her over to take note of the rest of her appearance. Her brown hair was tied into a firm bun behind her head. And her attire looked the part of a professional administrator of sorts. She wore a white ruffle pleated blouse inside her dark gray blazer which matched her knee-length dark grey skirt and complemented the dark blue heels she adorned. Around her neck hung a common work ID which had her picture and a company name: Strickland Corporation. The woman blushed faintly at Quatre's look over.

"Ah!" Quatre turned red realizing what he just did. "I'm so sorry that was very inappropriate of me."

"Ah…it's fine." She murmured before she cleared her throat again to ask, "So would it be all right if I sit here?"

Quatre spared another furtive glance at Demitri before returning to the woman. He assessed that it wouldn't be a hassle at all for a mere stranger to accompany him while he did reconnaissance. In fact, it would probably look more natural that way.

He smiled at her and gestured to the seat across from him. "You're not interrupting anything at all. I would be delighted to have company. Please sit."

"Thank you very much. Oh, I'm Marie Bennet. Pleasure to meet you." She sat down and raised her hand, flicking her wrist to call the waitress over.

"Kyle Reed. And the pleasure is all mine, Ms. Bennet," he replied. While the waitress took her order, he lifted his book and focused his attention once again on Demitri.

At this point, Demitri's meeting had just about begun. When the two mercenaries had entered the café was unknown to Quatre, which was probably due to the minor distraction before him. It didn't matter though as long as he was able to see what Demitri was planning. From where he sat, he could clearly read Demitri's lips. Reading lips was slightly more difficult to do, but they couldn't risk having a listening device discovered. The man had set down a hefty envelope on the table while he scratched the left side of his neck with his free hand. Quatre read his lips:

_$50,000 as we agreed. The second half will be given when the job is complete._

Demitri was scratching his neck again, almost frantic.

_Why is he so nervous?_ Quatre watched as Demitri excuse himself to go to the restroom. No one had gone to the restrooms since the beginning of this meeting, and Quatre had made sure to check there was nothing and no one hiding in there either. Although the emergency exit was next to the restrooms, there was no chance of escape given that Wufei was in the alley outside. He probably just needed to calm himself down for whatever reason he was nervous for.

"So Kyle," He lowered his book and set his attention to Marie, "How is your book?"

Quatre turned to the book in his hands. He wasn't sure how it truly was considering he wasn't even reading the book in the first place. It was only for appearance. So, he tried to make the best neutral answer he could think up. "It's pretty okay. I'm only just starting on it after all so I can't say too much about it yet."

"Oh?" She tilted her head. "What's it about so far?"

_Crap…_ "Ah, well… its—"

Unexpectedly, his phone rang. He fumbled through his pocket for his phone. Quatre was grateful for the person on the other line. He wasn't sure how to lie his way through that one.

Quatre smiled at the Marie, "Excuse me for a moment." He answered the call, "Hello?"

/_What's going on? Who are you talking to?_/ It was Duo.

"Oh hey there, Dan. I'm just here having lunch with a new friend, Ms. Bennet." He flashed a small smile at her. During moments like this while on the mission, they always tried to keep the conversation sounding casual to others while dropping the real responses in disguise.

/_Oh?_/ Quatre paused and snuck a peek out the window. He was sure Duo was looking at them from wherever he was outside. /_She's pretty cute! *_**WHAP***_ Ow—dammit I was playing! Geez._/ He smiled knowing full well that it was Heero who caused the injury.

Quatre glanced back at Demitri, who returned from the restroom, and read the words 'Vice Foreign Minister' from his lips. "I hope you're doing well, but listen, Dan, I really should go."

/_Oh right. Can you still see Strauss?_/

"Yes, I'll talk to you later, Dan. You're interrupting my lunch as I recall saying to you earlier."

/_Right, right… Get her number if you can! *_**WHAP* **_Owwww!_/ With that, Duo hung up.

Quatre looked over to Marie, smiling apologetically, "I'm terribly sorry about that. That was a friend of mine. He can be a bit crazy."

A small smile was etched on her face. "That's all right. It sounded as if you were enjoying the conversation."

By this time, the waitress came by with her order: a small plain turkey sandwich. There was nothing more, not even a drink. He looked at the plate and back at Marie who only smiled at a waitress and uttered a thank you. Quatre couldn't help but raise his brow and blink incredulously at the food. Was this all the woman was going to eat? It didn't seem like it was enough.

"Is that really enough for you?" He voiced his thoughts aloud.

Marie nodded as she took hold of half of the sandwich with one hand while the other held her book. "Yes, it is. I don't like to order too much unless I'm home."

Inwardly, he shrugged and didn't ask anymore after that. He left her to eat and read in peace. Once again, he picked up his book again and turned the page creating the illusion of reading. The meeting with Demitri had continued. From what Quatre could tell, they were finalizing the details of the plan.

_This is the best chance. It has to happen the night Vice Foreign Minister Peacecraft holds the banquet. _

Quatre tried not to look distressed. This was bad. Whoever Demitri was planning to kill, he was going to have it done on the night all the important officials gathered. That was only three days from now. If they had any chance of preventing an assassination, they certainly didn't have a lot of time on their hands. Quatre hoped that Demitri would reveal the target soon. That is, if Demitri didn't collapse from being so tense. The man was beginning to sweat profusely, using his plaid handkerchief to wipe his face. His hand was even trembling as he wiped the sweat away from his eyes. The anxiety had become so overwhelmingly evident that his men began to wonder if he was going to back out of the plan.

A faint beeping distracted Quatre.

"Ah! So sorry." Marie took the last bite of her sandwich before she stopped her watch's incessant beeping. "I guess that means my time is up."

"Oh…?" He said absentmindedly. His attention far too focused on Demitri who now called the waitress over for a glass of water. The man faintly grabbed at his throat as if it was dry or possibly burning, Quatre couldn't tell.

"My break is about over. I have to get going." Marie took out a handkerchief to wipe her lips before she stood and smiled brightly at Quatre, "Thank you for letting me sit with you, Kyle."

"Oh, it was not a problem. Take care of yourself." Whether Marie had responded, Quatre didn't notice. His eyes—actually, all eyes in the café were upon Demitri now. He was causing a scene. His fist bashed the table and he began gasping for air.

One of the men had taken a hold of his arm and asked, "H-Hey, what's wrong?"

"Roth—" he rasped out before covering his mouth with his handkerchief to cough relentlessly.

The waitress quickly ran to him, presenting a cool glass of water. Demitri snatched it hastily causing some of the water to spill across the floor. He downed the glass like a man taking his fill of water after traveling through the desert. Before anyone could utter another word, there was a piercing crash. The glass had been thrown across the room. All went silent, but the sound of Demitri's erratic breathing. The men kept a wary distance from Demitri, but still kept trying to calm him down. He didn't listen. Unexpectedly, Demitri stood up and flipped the table on its side. No matter what anyone said, he wouldn't listen. It was almost like he was deranged.

"DAMMIT!" He croaked before nearly falling off balance from another coughing fit that shook his entire body. Demitri caught himself and leaned forward with one hand on his knee, the other holding the handkerchief to his mouth.

"H-Hey, I think you should leave. You're c-causing a lot of t-trouble here." The waitress said, frightened. She began stepping back slowly to avoid any harm that may come to her.

Demitri glowered at the waitress. The woman's eyes widened and suddenly let out a piercing scream. Without delay, Quatre placed his hand on the window, signaling the others of trouble before he went to deal with Demitri himself. He ran to shield the waitress from Demitri. When he looked straight at the livid man, his eyes widened. The waitress didn't scream because he was about to attack her.

It was the blood.

There was _so_ _much _blood.

Demitri's eyes had become so blood-shot that even his tears were bloody. The shock in Quatre's eyes prompted Demitri to look down at his handkerchief. His handkerchief had become so soaked with blood that it dropped onto the floor with a loud splat. He began to tremble, afraid of what was happening to him. Blood was not only spilling from his eyes, but even his nose and his mouth. It didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon. There was so much blood on his face. Demitri started clawing at his face.

Quatre turned to the waitress. "Please call the ambulance! We need to get him to the hospital! Now!"

She nodded and ran off to the back. Slowly, Quatre approached Demitri, not wishing to startle him. When Demitri noticed him approaching, he clutched onto Quatre's shirt in desperation. He left blood stains all over Quatre's shirt, and even more so as he spoke.

"It's Rothman…This—his doing…"

Demitri stumbled over, prompting Quatre to latch onto the man. "What are you saying?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he pushed Quatre away and yelled, "DAMN YOU ROTHMAN!"

Quatre fell back, crashing into one of the other café tables. Before he could stand back up to help, Demitri coughed again and gagged blood onto the floor around himself. All Demitri could see was red.

***THUD***

As he collapsed onto the floor in the pool of his own blood, all Quatre could do was watch the life abandon his eyes before finally, he was gone.

* * *

TBC


	3. The Master of Disguise

A/N: Thank you to those who are reading this far. I'm assuming it means you're enjoying the story so far. :) By this point, you could pretty much figure that I have an OC here, and no this fanfic is not under the romance genre. No romance here. I really do hope you enjoy the rest of the story. There's about 3 more chapters after this.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the GW characters. Just the OC and the plotline. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: The Master of Disguise

* * *

After Demitri Strauss collapsed, the two men ran out of the café only to be immediately caught by Heero and Trowa who were outside. The café was cleared out of all its occupants in order to make room for a full scale investigation. There was quite a commotion outside with people, mainly reporters, trying to find out what had happened to Demitri Strauss. No matter how much they pushed and begged for details, they were all kept at bay. Still, it didn't lessen the noise around them. There was also no doubt that once the scene was cleared, the story fed to the gossip-hungry journalists outside would be nothing but a web of lies.

Forensics took pictures of Demitri's corpse while police officers scanned the entire café for any clues to the man's sudden death. Quatre watched everyone scramble around to do their jobs. As he watched, he began to play his memory over and over, wondering if he had missed anything. According to forensics, the symptoms Demitri had portrayed indicated poison. The supposed nervous itch and the sweating were obvious signs. How could he not see this happening?

"Quatre?" A hand on his shoulder startled him. Duo looked at him worriedly. "Did you see anything happen while you were here?"

He sighed, "Nothing at all. Everything was right in front of me, and I saw nothing happen." He placed his face in his hands. "Maybe someone snuck in through the restroom window and poisoned him."

"Not possible," With his arms crossed, Heero walked over. "I've locked the windows of both restrooms from the inside and placed a sensor to alert me if they were tampered it."

Duo added, "And neither of the two guys are talking, but I doubt they had anything to do with his death. They looked just as surprised as we were."

"But before he collapsed," Quatre looked at the corpse, "he yelled out 'Rothman'."

"Rothman? As in Ambassador Rothman?" Wufei's eyes widened. "What does he have to do with Demitri Strauss?"

"I'm not sure. It could involve something with the banquet, but whatever it is we better find out soon."

"Excuse me," One of the policemen approached, "Forensics found a small puncture wound on the left side of his neck."

"Puncture wound?" Trowa repeated and glanced down at the corpse. The people from forensics were placing a small paper ruler by the puncture wound to reveal its almost microscopic size before taking its picture.

The policeman continued his explanation, "Yes, and on the floor where he was seated, a small needle." He showed them the needle which had been placed inside the evidence bag. "It probably fell after it punctured. It's a very effective poison. Just a small prick on the skin would be enough for the poison to go through."

Trowa grabbed the evidence bag to observe the needle. It was indeed small, but the sharp ends were enough to pierce. "So that's how he was poisoned."

Wufei passed the policeman and sat in the very seat Demitri was in earlier. "Quatre, he sat here, yes?"

Looking over to Wufei, Quatre nodded remembering the exact place Demitri sat. They watched Wufei as he looked around the café from his seat. They then realized that Demitri had specifically chosen this seat. His back was to the wall so no one could surprise him. He wasn't close to any window so there were no chances for a sniper to shoot him. And the table was the closest to the emergency exit if anything went awry. Demitri was a very cautious man.

Trowa walked over to Wufei and pointed to a spot on Wufei's neck, "This is where the needle punctured. If it had been thrown, the only place the assassin could've been is—" Their heads turned to table Quatre occupied earlier.

Quatre's eyes furrowed. His thoughts began rushing through the lunch he had with Marie. Marie's seemingly sincere yet odd request to sit with him during lunch and the peculiar way she had raised her hand and flicked her wrist to call the waitress…Wait…

_She couldn't have…_

He silently cursed under his breath. "Marie…"

"The girl?" Duo gawked, "How—"

"I saw her _flick_ her wrist when she called the waitress over. She could've—could she?"

During Quatre's confusion, the rest of the team took the liberty of checking the table for any prints the woman might have left. They even decided to take prints from the entrance door handle. Sadly, the search was futile. The woman not only left the table with no prints, but she had cleverly smeared any prints off from the entrance door handle with a cloth. Quatre was sure it was the handkerchief she had taken out before she left. That woman was clever.

"Is she the one from the rumors?" Quatre stared at the others.

Trowa looked pensive. "Possibly, but we can't say for certain yet."

"Is there anything about her you could remember, Quatre? It could help give us a lead." Duo asked.

He thought for a moment. "I have an idea. Let's go."

* * *

They arrived at Strickland Corporation. It took the five of them no longer than ten minutes to arrive. They had wasted no time with formalities with the lobby receptionist and demanded to see a Marie Bennet. The receptionist, a stout blonde woman, began questioning them in return while expressing the company's by-laws on how she couldn't just give away small information like that without good reason. None of them blamed her for doing her job, but none of them were too pleased with the lecture either. After showing their badges to the receptionist, the woman sent them to the fifteenth floor where they met with yet another receptionist of that floor.

"May I help you?" The dark-haired woman looked alarmed.

"Marie Bennet." Heero said sternly, nearly shoving his badge in her face. He wanted to avoid another lecture.

She murmured a word of understanding before she paged Marie to the reception area. The receptionist pointed out a couple of couches, the waiting area no doubt, where they would wait until Marie came by. It only took a few minutes before Marie Bennet appeared. The moment she entered the waiting area, she staggered at the sight of them.

"Is…there a reason why the Preventers Organization is here?" Marie walked towards them, cautiously.

Duo narrowed his eyes. "This is her, isn't it? I remember how she looked like." He grabbed her wrist.

"E-Excuse me?" Marie jerked her wrist away, which only caused Duo to grip tighter. "Please let go of me!"

"You need to come back with us and answer our questions. And don't think I won't know when you're lying." Duo began to pull her alongside him towards the elevator.

Marie and Duo struggled against each other. As Marie yelled for security, a crowd gathered around them from the commotion. The audience didn't faze any of them. Quatre stared at Marie. It definitely looked like her. Then as he approached her, he frowned. Her eyes were black.

"Wait a minute, Duo!" Quatre gripped Duo's shoulder.

"What is it?" Heero asked.

The "Marie Bennet" at the café had navy blue eyes. He clearly remembered how they gleamed under the light, reflecting off that peculiar emotion that allured him so. That woman was masquerading as Marie Bennet, but her eyes were the only features about her that Quatre was sure wasn't part of her disguise.

"This… isn't her."

"What?" Duo released Marie and began to look from Quatre to Marie.

"What do you mean 'it isn't her'?" Wufei exasperated.

"Her eyes aren't the same."

"Her eyes?"

"_Yes_, her eyes. They're black. The one in the restaurant had navy-blue eyes."

Duo groaned in frustration. "Are you _sure_ she just wasn't wearing contacts?"

"I'm sure." He looked firmly at Marie and asked, "Where were you in the last two hours?"

Nervously, she answered, "Um, I-I left the office for lunch—"

"Where?"

"Roy's. Um, it's about a block away from here. I-I'm sure the waiter there can confirm that. Then after an hour I came back to work and have been working since."

The ex-pilots looked at one another in confusion. If this wasn't the Marie Bennet, who was at the café? The imposter's choice in disguise was no doubt to hide their identity, and to lead anyone to a dead end if they were to ever be suspected. It was a typical spy method. Still, if the ex-pilots were to get any leads on their spy, they needed the real Marie Bennet's help. She had to have encountered the spy at some point.

Quatre looked hopeful for a clue—for anything. "Did anything peculiar happen today? Anything at all?"

Marie looked pensive. "Hm…well I did lose my ID pass today so I did have some trouble coming back up to work when security wouldn't let me in. I know I had it earlier before I left for lunch." She furrowed her brows in thought. "But I guess, it might've dropped when this woman bumped into me outside—"

"A woman bumped into you?" Trowa repeated. "When?"

His abrupt interruption startled her, but she quickly regained her composure. "Uh—yes. I was leaving for lunch and she accidentally bumped into me. She apologized plenty before going on her way though."

"How did she look like?"

"I-I'm not too sure I'm afraid. She had a hood up. But she looked about eighteen or nineteen. Is there something I need to be concern about?"

This time Quatre answered. "Ah no. You're fine. We were just looking for some information on this woman. She had used your appearance as a disguise." He took her hand as a sign of gratitude. "Thank you very much for your help."

He nodded towards Heero who replied to the rest of the group, "We're done here. Let's go."

Duo placed his hands in front of him, sweatdropping at Marie, "Sorry for the trouble, ma'am."

Surprisingly, Marie smiled, "It's all right. It was just a misunderstanding. Good luck with your search."

As they quickly left the corporation and into the busy sidewalks, Duo looked to the rest of the team then asked, "So what now?"

Heero answered as he walked to the car, leading the others to follow. "This is becoming something bigger than we thought. Strauss, Rothman—and if that girl is using the same M.O., then those two might have some involvement with former OZ and White Fang. We need to go to Lady Une and figure this out before the banquet."

* * *

In a hidden laboratory, an intruder artfully glided through the room, grabbing any and all gadgets on the counters. They covered themselves with a dark black hoodie making it appear as if they were truly gliding across the room as they continued their heist. Quickly, the intruder stuffed the gadgets into a black duffel bag, shoving in as much as they could fit inside. All the alarms were shut off and the cameras that were placed around the laboratory were set in a never-ending loop. Everything was going according to plan.

***CLICK***

The lights in the room flashed open and the intruder spun to glimpse at their perpetrator.

"I thought it would be you." By the door, Gerard stood with a knowing smile on his face. He sighed and slowly walked over to the surreptitious individual, "Tsk, tsk. What am I ever going to do with you?"

There was a long sigh from the intruder. The intruder's shoulders slack, accepting the loss before removing the hood. It was a woman. Her black hair flowed down past her shoulders and her navy blue eyes stared back at him, amused.

"Maybe for starters, _Dad_, I could have these nifty gadgets of yours?" she smiled. "They'd make great assets to my accessory bag."

Gerard gave a small chuckle, "You really can't leave the heroics to those boys, can you?"

"I'm not doing—"

"You don't have to lie to me." He heaved a small sigh. "I've known for a long time now. I'm old, but I can put two and two together."

She was stunned. Hesitantly she asked, "Why haven't you said anything?"

"It didn't seem like you wanted me to know." He gave her a sharp look. "You still don't trust me after all these years?"

"That's…not it."

"Can't you trust me?"

She looked down, refusing to show the pain in her eyes. It wasn't if she didn't trust him because she thought he would betray her. She didn't want to trust him with a secret that would burden him or even hurt him. She was afraid to trust him with it.

He said no more about that and went back to asking, "Why can't you leave it to those boys?"

If she was a little relieved at the change in subject, she didn't show. In response to her father's question, she scoffed. "Well what they're doing is taking too long. What kind of justice is there is the ones suffering have to continue to suffer for years until the government has enough _evidence_ to lock them up?" In frustration, she roughly shoved a gadget into her bag with a _clang_. "I don't think I can idly watch any longer."

He placed a hand on her shoulder, but she didn't look up as she busily gathered some gadgets into her backpack. "Please, listen to me." Her navy-blue eyes stared back at her father. "I think it's time to stop—"

"_Dad_, we've talked about this. I can't stand waiting around, watching people suffer."

"They're doing what they can. I don't want you getting hurt—"

"I won't! I'll be fine!"

"You're well aware that the Preventers are on to you now, aren't you? I'm not sure what I can do to help your situation if you're caught."

She smiled smugly. "It's ok, Dad. I've done my homework. I've seen their pictures so I know who to look out for. If they happen to catch on, I'll be sure that it won't lead back to you. You've gone through enough from the war."

"That's not where I'm getting at. Listen—"

"Please, I don't want to trouble you—"

"If something were to happen to you, you don't think I'll feel troubled?" At this point, he seized her by the shoulders, looking sternly into her eyes. "I'm worried about you. I don't think I can live with myself if something were to happen to you."

She was silent, looking back into his eyes to understand. He took that opportunity to continue.

"I understand that you want to undo the wrongs _he_ did, but that's not your duty. Leave the Preventers to do their job their way. You've gone through enough during the war as well. It's time to leave it behind, and just live your life. I don't want to lose my daughter." As he hugged her close, he began to tremble. "A parent shouldn't lose their child before their time."

She let out a small sigh, and then slowly lifted an arm over her dad's shoulder to hold him. The usual fragrance of her father's garden flowers enveloped her senses. It was a pleasant change from years before where he would reek of sweat and oil. His work on the mobile suits often kept him away from home and a decent shower. Although when she was younger, she remembered how the smell of sweat and oil was what she loved the most at her father's return. It meant he was back from wherever he was, and he was _alive_.

She understood completely. "I know dad…"

They stood there in each other's embrace for what seemed like an eternity, but it didn't matter to either one of them. They were too preoccupied with their thoughts of the past and how dear and precious their existence was to one another. She thought long and hard about she would do next—what she would tell her father. She understood his feelings as she had been in the same position when the war approached. Yet now from her standpoint, she understood why her father was gone for many days—sometimes months on end during the war. Slowly, she stepped back from their embrace.

"Dad…I don't know if I—it's just something I need to do." She struggled with her words and didn't dare to look at her father in the eye. "Believe me when I tell you that I know—I _know_ how dangerous this can be, but I don't think I can leave this alone until I've stopped them. Until I'm sure it's over, I just…can't give up."

For a few moments, she waited for her father to yell, reprimand, _something_. Anything would have been better rather than the deafening silence. Finally, she took a breath and looked at her father. There was a sad smile on his face as if he had known all along what she was going to decide. Yet, the look in her father's eyes held nothing but disappointment. She abruptly looked away, her fists clenched at her sides. Although she didn't want to disappoint him, but she wasn't going to go back on her word either. Would he leave her? An inner turmoil grew in her. Her father knew her decision, but it had obviously distressed him. She was suddenly startled when he slowly approached her and took her back in her arms.

"I know, I know." He murmured into her hair and kissed the top of her head. "I understand."

"Da—"

"Go sleep. It's enough for one night." He left her with a heartbreaking smile and walked away.

She couldn't help but feel empty watching her father's retreating figure.

* * *

TBC

Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review if you'd like. I enjoy the good feedback. :)


	4. The Labyrinth of Scarlet Manor

A/N: Thank you to those who are reading thus far. I'm assuming it means the story at least piqued your interest. :) I hope this story continues to do so until the end. Enjoy!

Part 4/6

Chapter 4: The Labyrinth of Scarlet Manor

* * *

**One day before Peacecraft Banquet**

The boys were seated in one of the meeting rooms of their headquarters with Lady Une. Stacks of documents were all over the large mahogany table that there was barely any space for anyone to place even an elbow. In front of the vast curtain-covered window was a dry erase board cluttered with words and arrows. It was no doubt a chain of relationships and interactions of some sort between Rothman and Strauss. Although on the corner of the board, there were two words circled separately several times and surrounded by question marks: OZ and vigilante. There was no doubt of a connection between Rothman and Strauss as they were both members of the ESUN. It was the question of their relationship with former OZ members. After two days of interrogating Strauss' hitmen and tussling through seemingly infinite amounts of document, they were able to piece everything together.

Lady Une rubbed her temples. "This entire time…I can't believe it was Rothman and Strauss who had been importing and selling gundanium alloy to those people."

Wufei had his glasses on and was scribbling more notes on their board. "They were initially unaware that they were competitors. Strauss intended to have Rothman assassinated during the banquet along with the Cabinet members. That way, his seat in the Cabinet would be guaranteed."

"And a seat in the Cabinet would enable him to get closer to the Vice Foreign Minister Peacecraft." Heero said as he typed away on his laptop. "But Rothman planned the same thing as Strauss, and both of them hired outside work to take the other out before taking out the Cabinet. Something tells me that this was more than just taking out the competition."

"I agree with Yuy," Wufei turned to the group, recalling the interrogation. "When Maxwell and I got through, they revealed that Strauss mentioned that he had to take out Rothman because there was only room for one of them."

Duo interjected, "At first, it sounded like just a bunch of power-hungry bureaucrats, but it seems like _someone_ _else_ is pulling the strings. One of the men clearly said, 'Strauss was afraid to lose favor, so he had to take out Rothman'. The major question here is _who_ was Strauss afraid to lose favor to?"

Lady Une stood up and stepped away from the desk. The _clacking_ of her high heels echoed in the room until she stopped at the board. With a marker in hand, she began connecting Rothman and Strauss' name to OZ. Her hand trembled faintly as she remembered her days in OZ during the war.

"Whoever they're afraid of is obviously from this group. They were more than just suppliers." Slowly she brought up her hand to her lips, deep in thought. "I think…they're regrouping again."

"They're regrouping and yet there's someone eliminating their own?" Quatre was exasperated and completely appalled by the idea.

"It's not uncommon." Lady Une murmured bitterly. Her eyes dimmed as memories of her former self shooting General Septum after she had manipulated the man in denouncing the Gundams.

"Lady Une," Trowa whispered, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. He recognized the signs of an old soldier drowning in guilt. Everyone had their own scars to carry from the war. "It's all in the past. The best you can do is try to remember. Maybe, you might know who is taking charge."

She laughed wryly, shaking her head. Her hand grasped onto Trowa's and squeezed it faintly as a way of thanks before walking to the closest chair. "Honestly, I doubt I'd remember. After I had come out from that coma, many faces and names became blurry."

"Then," Heero started to say as he still typed on his laptop, "We have to find out through Rothman. And maybe—" He glanced at the board where 'vigilante' was circled, "the girl."

Quatre followed Heero's gaze and murmured in agreement. At remembering the navy-eyed woman, his lips turned to a frown. The woman had been on the trail of this anarchist group. Only now did they've begun to piece together of a possible threat to the peace they had worked hard to achieve years ago. It was then he recalled that peculiar emotion he saw in her eyes. The flare in her eyes mirrored her resolve—to kill Strauss, to kill Rothman, to stop yet another anarchist group from revolting. For what purpose exactly, he wasn't sure. It was almost as if she was at war; take no prisoners. They no longer followed that code since the end of the war. Killing was a last resort. It wasn't necessary to kill any of them even if they were malicious. Quatre wished that the woman would see the same.

Lady Une's voice cut through his thoughts. "If we're going to pin Rothman, we have to be sure to detain the men he hired in the act before they finish their job. We can't accuse the ambassador without evidence. And if that vigilante comes your way, which I have no doubts she will be, protect Rothman and apprehend her. I'm sure she has information that could help us."

Duo sighed loudly. "We certainly got our work cut out for us. Catch the bad guys, arrest Rothman, protect him, arrest the girl—yeah, this is going to be as easy as pie." Quatre chuckled beside him and gave him a pat on the back.

Wufei rolled his eyes at the comment while Trowa just shook his head.

Heero finally shut his laptop closed. "We don't have a lot of time on our hands. Let's get to work."

* * *

The day of the Peacecraft banquet finally arrived. Every year to commemorate the peace treaty between the colonies and Earth, and the birth of the Earth Sphere United Nation (ESUN), this banquet was held. As the day slowly rolled to night, all the government officials began to gather at the Scarlet Manor. The Scarlet Manor was renowned for having the largest banquet hall among the colonies. If not for the vast banquet hall, the manor's architecture was also a striking feature to beget its excellent reputation.

Scarlet Manor was surrounded by a lake which sparkled against the moonlight that evening. Cars drove in and out through the concrete bridge that was built from the main roads to the manor. Once passing the metal arched gates, the entrance was filled with valets waiting to give service and security guards to not only keep an eye out for trouble but to also check the list of guests arriving.

The inside of the manor was just as extravagant. Upon entering the threshold, the warm and friendly ambiance immediately filled the air. Pillars were lined up all the way down from the entrance to the banquet hall. Walls of ivory were dressed with vermillion curtains trimmed with gold. The crystal chandeliers which hung from the seemingly unbounded ceiling illuminated brightly revealing the evermore luster of the beige marble floors.

A lengthy red carpet rolled out from the entrance down to the grand staircase and into the elegant hallway. The hallway was adorned with expensive art pieces and statues. There were a set of weaving staircases on either side of two white double doors that were at the end of the hallway. The stairs led up to the indoor balcony which could be seen above the double doors. Further in through the balcony was sign that there were more hallways leading to other parts of the manor. And finally within the double doors was the main event in the banquet hall. The banquet hall was filled with round tables covered in ivory sheets. High officials, ambassadors, and many more packed the floor of the manor, idly chatting away before the start of the dinner.

With the celebration about to start, the Preventers began increasing security all around the manor. With the most obvious entry points covered by security, the ex-pilots took control of guarding the hidden underground tunnels of the manor. These tunnels were built as a means of escape. If anyone wanted to get into the banquet unseen, this was, by far, the best approach; given the person knew their way through the tunnels. The tunnels were modeled like a labyrinth to confuse trespassers. Now the escape route from the manor itself was uncomplicated. A set of stairs would lead down to a tunnel, and at the end of that tunnel would be a thick concrete wall. It would appear that they were led to a dead end. On the contrary, there was a switch on the side of the wall to trigger it to slide over to their freedom right outside the arched gates. Escape was pretty straightforward. Infiltrating wasn't the same.

There was no switch on the outside allowing the concrete wall to slide in thus purging the idea of those who've gone through the escape route from trying to sneak back in. To get into the tunnels, there was another secret tunnel entrance. The tunnel was dark, but only for a short while until it would lead to a very intricate maze. What made this secret passageway so unique was that each time it opened, whoever entered would never start in the same place of the maze, twice. It would almost appear that the maze was ever changing. The truth of the matter was—

_"It's rotating." Heero said as he looked at the map of the maze._

_ "It's what? Rotating?" Duo dipped forward to get a closer look of the map, and to better understand his comrade's discovery of something rotating. _

_Quatre, Wufei and Trowa, too, leaned in to understand Heero's discovery. It took a few moments before one of them, Trowa, said, "I see now."_

_He grabbed a pencil nearby and began to draw on the map. Starting where the entrance tunnel began, he started to circle around the entire map until it returned back around to its starting point, thus encompassing the maze and entrance tunnel in a bigger circle. It was just as Heero said. _

_ "The entrance tunnel is the one that rotates around the maze. That's why no one ever finds themselves in the same place the second time around. And see here," Trowa pointed to the dead ends all around the borders of the maze, "they are all potential starting points depending where the entrance tunnel stops."_

_"Oh great," Duo scratched the back of his head, sweatdropping at the new discovery. "So we're being spun around like Russian Roulette. Wherever we start, it's all by chance."_

_Trowa and Quatre laughed at the clever analogy._

With the mystery solved, it was only the matter of the maze itself that needed to be deciphered since where they would begin was purely by chance. Despite the unique intricacies of the tunnels, they had somehow figured a way to crack the system. They were unsure of the number of men Rothman had hired, and ended up separating into different sectors to cover more space.

_/Do not engage if there's too many. Call for backup./_ Trowa said in the earpiece. They all wore one to keep each other inform about any suspicion or danger. Suddenly, the rumbling of applause above them revealed the start of the banquet.

_ /Show time./_ Duo said after the rumblings ceased.

An hour and a half passed, and there was still no sign of any trouble. There was no movement, no disturbances or anything; just the hushed tones of classical music playing from the party above them. Everyone was becoming restless. And the longer they stayed in the tunnels, the more they realized how dim, chilly, and web-infested these tunnels were after all these years. It didn't even look like anyone had gone through these tunnels even once in the last decade. Perhaps that the existence of this secret passageway had gone unnoticed.

_/You know,/ _Duo started to say, _/there's a more likely chance that they're going to attack from the surface instead._/

There was a palpable sound of indignation over the radio. _/Our place is down here in the tunnels. Be quiet and do your job./_ Heero reprimanded.

They continued their patrol in silence afterwards. There were still hours more before the banquet ended. If there were any attacks from the surface as Duo suggested earlier, they didn't hear any rumblings of thousands of people running and screaming above them. As Wufei turned at the bend, a familiar braid bounced ahead of him before turning left at the corner ahead. He furrowed his brows and placed his hand on his earpiece.

"Maxwell!" he hissed as quietly as he could into the radio, "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be watching your sector. Did you get lost?"

/_What! Lost?! __**What **__are you even talking about? I don't get lost. I __**am**__ in my sector!_/

"What?" That certainly couldn't be right. Wufei was sure he wasn't delusional. He cautiously walked down the passage, his gun at the ready. Wufei paused and pressed his back to the wall by the corner where he first caught a glimpse of the braid. As he glanced over the corner, he once again saw the braided individual sprinting from shadow to shadow with a gun in hand. He noted that they were also getting closer to the tunnel leading up to the manor.

/_What's going on, Wufei?/_ Trowa asked over the radio.

"There's someone here. I've counted one so far."

/_Are you okay on your own?_/ He heard Quatre ask.

"Yeah I'll be fine."

/_Let us know if there's trouble._/ Heero said before the radio went silent.

Wufei followed the shady individual, hoping to take them down by surprise. The closer he got to the Duo look-alike, the more the person looked nothing like him. For one thing, their figure was more slender and had curves in places he was sure Duo did _not_ have. And if that wasn't a dead giveaway, this imposter was a good two inches shorter than Wufei. The real Duo was at least a quarter inch taller than him. He knew it well because the braided ex-pilot always teased him on their height differences, which only infuriated Wufei further.

_This has to be the woman from the café._ Wufei mused, silently sneaking closer to the imposter.

As soon as he got close enough, he pressed the barrel of his gun against the back of their head. "Slowly put your gun on the ground, and—"

The imposter spun around with one hand outstretched, knocking the gun away from Wufei. And before he could even react, a kick to his chest had thrown him off balance. He recovered quickly with a back flip the moment his hand grounded itself for momentum. Once upright, he gave her no time to even aim. He rushed towards her hurling his fist to her stomach. There was no way for her to avoid the hit. Right before his fist landed, he saw her jump back with the motion, significantly lessening the force of the blow and avoiding what could have been a knockout punch. She tumbled backwards from the force. He heard her curse and hiss in pain.

_Fast thinking on her part…_ To say the least, he was impressed with her reflexes. Although her fast reflexes alone wouldn't help her win against him. He could hear his comrades' voices in his head, asking what was going on, but he ignored them to concentrate on his fight.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the glint of her gun that had fallen when she took his punch. Wufei made a grab for it only to be stopped by a roundhouse kick aimed for his head. The woman was definitely fast to come running at him like this. He only had time to block the kick with his forearm. The force dropped him to the floor. He took that opportunity to swipe his leg at her ankles causing her to fall on her back. They both got up swiftly, but Wufei got to the gun first. He aimed, but she was already too close. Her right hand reached for his wrist attempting to disarm him. Instinctively, he grabbed her forearm and twisted himself around to flip her over his shoulder. With a resounding thud, she landed on their back against the cold hard ground. She groaned at the pain. When she finally opened her eyes, she found herself staring into the barrel of Wufei's gun. She heaved deep breaths as she glowered at Wufei. He had been right. This was the woman from the café.

When her breath finally steadied, she sighed dejectedly, "I didn't think I'd run into any of you Preventers anytime soon."

"Your impersonation of my comrade was very weak. You should've chosen a better disguise. Now, get up, slowly. Hands behind your head."

/_Wufei, what's going on?_/ It was Quatre.

"The woman from the café, I have her." He watched her sit up, her back turned to him, and placing her hands behind her head.

/_I'm heading to you._/ Both Trowa and Heero murmured.

Wufei carefully watched the woman sit in silence. He and the others knew that she worked outside the laws of society. Her goal was to eliminate all those who were planning to rebel against the current alliance between the Earth and Colonies to start another war. A part of him could understand that desire—that need for justice, and the direct approach to kill the perpetrators seem to be the only effective method.

"I used to be like you."

"What?" She was startled, but more by the fact that he was making conversation with her rather than the comment itself.

"Fighting for the weak. Restoring justice where it's needed. One death to justify the lives of all."

She blinked, astounded. Not that he could see since her back was facing Wufei. "If you understand, why are you with the Preventers now?"

"Because if everyone followed the path you're on, we'd be burying more innocent people than saving them." He could see clearly how her shoulders tensed up at his statement. "And the path you're on isn't for those innocent people as you claim to—"

"_Excuse_ me?" She flared.

"And you show no mercy to your enemies—"

"Do you _think_ they deserve mercy? Those people—"

"Those _people _are malicious and foul, but they are still human. You say you're fighting for the weak, but killing everyone off isn't the answer. You're on a path of revenge."

He expected her to lash out, but all that was returned was cold silence. Her shoulders went slack. He could hear her breathe in deeply before she decided to speak.

"Revenge, huh? I can't really deny that, I guess," She murmured, "But the innocent benefit from my revenge. I don't think—"

"Do you think they'd benefit from your death?"

"I don't see why not." She answered with a shrug. Her response came way too abruptly for his comfort. "I'd think after I'm done, there would be peace."

"Maybe. But there are better ways to go about this without becoming an emotionless killing machine."

"I don't think I'm that—"

There was a faint and distinct click.

She clicked her tongue. "Someone's coming."

He knew she wasn't lying when he heard the soft thumping of boots approaching. It definitely wasn't Trowa or Heero. Wufei looked behind him to see two masked men looking in their direction. Before they gunned them down, Wufei was hastily shoved to the side behind one of the walls. He held the back of his head, cursing in his native tongue. The sounds of guns firing echoed through the tunnels, alarming the rest of the Preventers.

/_Wufei, are you okay? What's going on?_/ Wufei could hear the echo of gunshots over the radio. Trowa was closeby.

"There are two men, armed, keeping us pinned. I'm fine if not a little disoriented." He muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

"_Sorry_," She uttered as she returned shots at their enemy. "I should've been more _delicate_, but there wasn't enough time to _gracefully_ pull you aside."

"Thanks…" The dripping sarcasm incensed him, but he didn't argue. There was no time for arguments right now. In fact, there was no time to even apprehend her under the circumstances. He grabbed a gun nearby, whose it was didn't matter anymore, and looked at the woman once more. After she fired a couple more shots at their enemy, she braced her back to the wall to take cover once more. It was then she noticed Wufei's gaze.

She guessed what had been troubling him. "I have no time to deal with you right now, but if you'd still like to arrest me go ahead. But if you're not, then let's deal with this first. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?"

Wufei nodded, "Just for now." He took the space closest to the corner in front of the woman and crouched down in order to make his returning shots.

"Ah, your friends are nearby."

Sure enough, Wufei saw the men shooting in a different direction. After being overwhelmed with bullets from different directions, both men were pinned down and cornered before taken down by Heero and Trowa.

"Good, we made it in time," said Trowa who tied up two of Rothman's thugs. He raised his brows at the sight of the Duo look-alike standing beside Wufei. And before another word was said, Heero raised the gun to her neck.

"Drop the gun."

She visibly swallowed and dropped the gun. "Got it…"

"Please!" One of the men yelled. "You have to let us go! We're going to die here if we don't!"

"What do you mean?" Heero's face darkened in anger as he turned to the man.

"Rothman set up bombs in the banquet hall! We're only supposed to set up more in the tunnels and outside the gates! Please!"

"But," All eyes turned to the woman. She looked at Heero nervously as he only pushed the gun harder against her neck. Then, she continued, "Isn't he only after the Cabinet members? With that many explosives, he'll take out everyone, even Vice Foreign Minister Peacecraft."

"He won't take out the Vice Foreign Minister." The man said, "They always make her priority in evacuations. Once she's out, Rothman will take out the Cabinet members—"

"And anyone else around them!" Trowa clenched his fist. "It won't matter to him as long as the Cabinet members are out of the way!"

"How many are there!?" Wufei reached out to grab one of the men by their collar.

"I-I'm not sure! We're just setting up the last of the bombs. H-He has men at the ready to crash the party as the distraction."

"When?! And where will Rothman be?!" Trowa demanded.

The other man answered, "We don't know. All we know is that he has the detonator and this place can collapse anytime now!"

"Shit." The ex-pilots muttered in unison.

Heero turned to Trowa, "Trowa, take these two and the woman out of here. I'll disarm the bombs. We'll get Duo and Quatre to have everyone evacuate—"

A thunderous pounding echoed through the tunnels. Muffled shouts and screams could be heard over them. Rothmen's plan was beginning to reach its final climax. They tensed up and felt the adrenaline running through their veins. There was not a lot of time left now.

"We have to disarm those bombs NOW." Wufei said and looked to the two men. "Show us where they are."

"Hey!" Heero yelled as the woman did a leg sweep during the distraction. As soon as he was on the ground, she grabbed her gun and ran off. Wufei shot at her feet to neutralize her, but none of the shots hit. She was already gone. Heero growled and was about to run after her when Trowa grabbed his arm.

"There's no time," said Trowa, "We need to disarm the bombs."

He reluctantly concurred. Placing a hand on his earpiece, he called out, "Duo, Quatre."

/_Yeah._/ Both Duo and Quatre answered.

"We need you to go and find Rothman. He's set up explosives everywhere and he has the detonator. We'll try to disarm the bombs. You'll probably run into that woman too. She ran off. And she's no doubt looking for Rothman too."

/_Got it._/ Quatre replied.

Duo's voice brimmed with confidence. /_We'll get to him before she does._/

* * *

A/N: I'm not very well versed in action scenes, but I hope that the readers got the picture. Also, the idea of the labyrinth was inspired of many hours playing Professor Layton. For anyone who loves puzzles and mind-boggling riddles, Professor Layton is a must. Anyway, let me know what you thought in a review! I'd appreciate feedback! Thank you!


	5. Rothman's Demise

A/N: The story is almost done. One more chapter after this. Thank you for those who are reading this far. Although it'd be nice for a review to let me know that you're enjoying the story *hint hint*

Part 5/6

Chapter 5: Rothman's Demise

* * *

The banquet was in total chaos. Rothman's little army had broken into the manor, ready to shoot down anyone who got in their way. Security had done their best in taking out most of their forces, but there was simply too many of them to begin with. Their own forces were either shot down or pushed back all the way out of the entrance doors of the manor. The guests had closed up the hall doors and blocked it with several chairs and tables in an attempt to hinder the enemies from breaking through. They only needed to hold it off long enough for Vice Foreign Minister Peacecraft and the Cabinet members to escape into the tunnels. Rothman, who had handily left the banquet hall before the chaos, smirked at the top of the grand staircase. Everything was going according to plan. He clutched the detonator in his hands, waiting…

"Rothman!" Rothman's eyes widened and turned to the sound of his name. Somehow among the chaos, someone had escaped and found him just nearing the pinnacle of his plan. He scowled at the braided individual that had dared to ruin his plans. His teeth tightened as the anger bubbled inside him. There should've been no trouble at all. His plan should've been perfect.

"Who are you?!" Rothman yelled.

The braided character grinned, "Duo Maxwell at your service!" He cocked his gun at Rothman. "Give me the detonator, and I won't shoot."

Somewhere in the halls behind Duo were sounds of gunshots and men yelling in pain. Rothman was sure that it was his men being taken out too. He gritted his teeth. "You're not alone, are you?"

"Nope," Another voice said nearby. From behind Duo, Quatre appeared with a gun also pointing at Rothman. "There are more of us. The Preventers already know what your plans are."

Duo glared. "So give up the remote. It's already over."

They had expected for Rothman to rage about his plans unraveling, or maybe even trembling in fear at the thought of losing everything he had worked hard for. Instead, the man just cackled. Duo and Quatre looked at one another in confusion.

"No matter, I will still finish the job and take out the Cabinet members." He ran down the grand staircase.

"What!" Quatre and Duo began firing at Rothman to stop him. Many of their bullets grazed through parts of the man's attire. A couple of them actually penetrated his skin around his legs, but still it was not enough to stop him from running off. Rothman ran through the hall, nearing the closed banquet hall doors where many of his men stood.

He stood next to his men, and commanded, "Shoot at them!"

As soon as his men showered them with bullets, Duo and Quatre immediately took cover behind the pillars. They tried to return fire but they couldn't do much damage.

"There's too many of them!" Duo yelled.

"Heero, we can't get to Rothman!" Quatre yelled over the sound of gunshots into the radio.

/_We're almost done disarming the bombs. We need a little more time._/

Duo nodded, "Okay. We'll do our best, but you better hurry!"

Almost like clockwork, a peculiar round metal ball rolled past the two of them and down the end of the hall. One of Rothman's men fired at it and set up a small explosion, crippling some of their forces. More shots were fired but from the opposite direction, taking out a couple more from battle. From the grand staircase, Duo and Quatre saw a braided character run in, shooting at Rothman's forces. The moment their eyes met, Quatre blinked in shock. He couldn't forget her eyes.

"It's her!" Quatre exclaimed, "The woman from the café."

When she took cover behind a pillar closest to them, Duo couldn't help but gape at her disguise.

"Are you supposed to be disguised as _me_?"

She answered him by rolling her eyes before she continued to fire back at their enemies.

"Seriously, why?!" He yelled dubiously.

Her eye twitched. "Are you seriously asking me now at a time like this? You heard your friend earlier. There isn't a lot of time."

Without further complaints, Quatre and Duo moved in closer, still taking cover behind a pillar while the enemy continued to fire. The two of them alone were able to injure a good number of their forces, but they couldn't move past enemy lines. They were stuck to the closest pillars near the double doors. And Rothman was already on the move. Duo set his back against the pillar to take cover from oncoming fire. Above him in the balcony, he could see Rothman running with the detonator in his hand. More of them were coming in, and they began to close in on them. At this rate, they wouldn't catch Rothman in time.

"Dammit, he's getting away!" Duo yelled as he continued shooting back at their adversaries.

There was a sudden hurried tapping of footsteps before a voice yelled, "Sorry!"

"Wha—" Duo turned his head and suddenly felt a heavy pressure upon his shoulders before being forcefully pushed backwards. The woman had run up behind him at full speed, and used his shoulders as a stepping stone to reach the balcony above them. As he fell back on his butt, he blinked in bewilderment at his supposed look-alike running after Rothman. He shook his head and grimaced whilst rubbing his shoulders. "Haa…Damn woman could've given the warning a little earlier."

* * *

Rothman kept running until he reached the farthest side of the Scarlet Manor. He would be away from all the chaos that would descend upon the Cabinet members. The Preventers presence down in the tunnels had caught him off guard; they knew Rothman was not what he appeared, but it no longer mattered. His men would distract them long enough for him to eliminate the Cabinet members. That itself was enough. Even if he would no longer be one of the new Cabinet members, Rothman was sure that he would find himself in _that man's_ favor. _He_ would save him somehow if Rothman did this right. This was his final chance to complete the plan. His maniacal grin grew wide as he looked down at the detonator in his hand.

A gunshot rang in the cold crisp air. The detonator dropped while a bullet imbedded itself in his hand. He screamed in pain and looked up at the perpetrator.

It was that woman who was alongside the Preventers.

She roughly pushed Rothman against the ledge, his face looking down at his possible doom. He tried to struggle but a sharp prick on the back of his neck stilled him. Slowly, he turned his head. The woman's blade shone against the light of the moon as its tip hovered over his vulnerable neck. Following the blade up, he looked into the eyes of his executioner. She narrowed her eyes and placed a foot on his back to shove him into the ledge once again. He glowered at her even when she held up her gun with her other hand, and pointed it at the back of his skull.

Rothman sneered, "Better let me go, girl. The Preventers will be here any minute to take you. And if you kill me now, I guarantee you'll get the death penalty."

She didn't even bat her eyes at the threat. All she did was lean in closer, her blade moving closer to his jugular. "I'm sure they'd take you in too. They're already well aware of your plans to get rid of the Cabinet members. Your hoodlum friends already ratted you out. And I'm sure by now the Preventers disarmed the explosives—your great and brilliant plan." Suddenly a sardonic smile emerged on her face. "As for killing you though, you're going to need a better threat than that to save your life."

Suddenly, he lost the air in his lungs as she again shoved his body against the ledge, half of his body threatening to fall over. He cursed at her, but she didn't seem to care.

"Who are you working for?" she hissed. Rothman's breath hitched at the distinct _click_ of the safety being released, "Mind you, I don't have a lot of patience."

There were a few hesitant moments before he answered, "You're sadly mistaken, girl. I have no boss."

"You're not giving them up, huh?" The blade slithered down his cheek, leaving a bloody mess along its trail. He shouted profanities, and begged her to stop. His words didn't faze her. "Are you that afraid or just unbearably loyal?"

He growled, "What does that matter? I said I have no—AUGGH!" The blade plunged into the side of his stomach.

"I already said I _don't_ have a lot of patience." She pulled the blade out letting the blood spill. Again, she hit the back of his head with the barrel of her gun. "I suggest you talk now before you die of blood loss."

Rothman pointlessly tried to cover his wound with his bare hands. It left him bloody and in pain. Dread fell upon his features and soon enough his resilience disappeared.

"I-I don't know his name!" When he saw the blade twitch, he yelled out again, "I swear!"

"What _do_ you know?"

"He's called King."

She scoffed, "King? How original."

"King, the one in charge, no one in the lower ranks knows who he is or what he looks like! Whenever we see him or hear from him, it's always through a screen. You can't even see his face! His back or his chair is always turned!"

Her eyes narrowed, "You're lying. You're an ambassador for goodness sake, how can you even be considered one of the lower ranks?"

"I-It's true! Only his personal council knows who he truly is. I was working my way up to be in his favor, possibly become part of his council. H-He told me that there's no room for both Strauss and I to be in his council. S-So I had to get rid of Strauss, and place myself in the Cabinet to get close enough to get rid of the Vice Foreign Minister! If that didn't work, I was just going to get rid of the Cabinet for the King!" Rothman started to panic further as more blood pooled onto the ground. He pleaded, "Please! I've told you all I know! I need to get to a doctor—a hospital! Please!"

"No need." She removed her foot from his back.

"What!" He slowly turned his body around to look at her incredulously. Was she just going to let him slowly die from blood loss?

She placed her gun between Rothman's eyes. Her eyes darkened making every joint in his body stiffen.

"One shot, point-blank. That's all they really need to know."

Her finger twitched against the trigger.

"DON'T!"

She pursed his lips and narrowed her eyes at Rothman. Something wasn't quite right. His eyes were engulfed in the darkness of his upcoming demise and his lips trembled in terror. The voice that left him was desperate, but it wasn't Rothman's voice. Her finger now only stroked the trigger delicately; her gun never lowering from her target. Without leaving her gaze on Rothman, she could hear people running to surround her, cornering her to the ledge.

"Please, drop your knife and gun, _Marie_."

Oh, now she was fully aware who had yelled earlier. The corner of her mouth twitched faintly as the memories of _Marie Bennet_ crossed her mind. Her job was completed without a hitch much to the Preventers chagrin. And she was sure that he, along with everyone else in his team, was enraged by her actions. So then _why_ did this man say the name in such a lighthearted tone? She didn't know what the man was playing at, but she was game.

"That's not my name, _Kyle_." She turned her body askew, allowing her to have a better look at the man while still pointing her gun to Rothman.

"So why don't you tell me your name then?" Quatre lowered his own gun onto the floor as a sign of compassion.

Some of the other guys threw perplexed looks at Quatre. Duo was the only one who spoke their concern, "What are you _doing_?"

All Quatre did was smile at them to let them know it was okay. She couldn't help but arch a brow at the man. Did he really think that it was going to be that simple? Furtively she glanced around at his team. Maybe this was a plan to distract her. If that was it, he was sadly mistaken to think this would be easy. Still, none of them made any movements; only kept their guns pointed at her.

Surprisingly, Quatre sighed dejectedly. "I know that you're just trying to do the right thing here; saving innocent people. But there are better ways to go about this. We're not at war anymore."

"I'm not delusional. I'm fully aware the war has been over for years." She deadpanned.

"Then why are you fighting like we're back in the war?" He took in her confused expression before continuing. "Is what you're doing really saving innocent people?"

"Taking out malevolent people like this _bastard_ here," she shook her gun at Rothman to emphasize, "would help out plenty."

"Violence begets violence. Nothing good can come out of that." He smiled sadly, "At this rate, you're going to lose yourself in this vicious circle—your path of revenge. You don't trust anyone, but soon enough you won't trust yourself if you continue on."

Trust. The words he spoke hit a small nerve in her, but she refused to let it show. She groaned in frustration, not wanting to hear anymore. "I honestly have no idea what game you're playing at here, but I'm getting tired of it."

"No games." Quatre raised both of his hands as if in surrender then took another step forward. "I think…I believe there's a way we can work this out."

Her shoulders tensed and reflexively she took a step back. "We have different ways of working things out, if you haven't realized. You work with a flawed system, I work around it."

"True. Different systems, but that can always change."

"It won't ever change—"

"I _trust_ that it will, and it is changing, slowly."

Again, the word: Trust. The word tasted so foreign in her mouth. She believed she was better off working alone and trusting no one.

"Can't you trust me?" He asked.

She blinked at him in shock. Her father's exact words on the night he talked to her. Again, trust. She looked at the blonde as his eyes glistened with his emotions. Somehow he trusted her when he placed his own weapon down to talk. He trusted her…and that drove her insane. She couldn't fathom it at all. She cringed at the thought. Trust. Could she ever trust anyone _entirely_? Was it safe? The gun trembled in her hand slightly, her emotions getting the best of her. With an indignant huff, she approached Rothman. The men around her tensed as their fingers went rigid against the trigger at her sudden movement. She pulled Rothman away from the ledge by the collar of his shirt.

"Here," she said gruffly, pushing Rothman to the group around them.

Rothman stumbled and fell in front of the group. His petulant tirade was disregarded as Wufei took that moment to apprehend him. The rest of them watched her carefully. She tried to keep her emotions in check. _Trust_ was such a frustrating and difficult topic for her. She despised talking about it. Her hands clenched tightly around her weapons, irate. She narrowed her eyes at Quatre.

Quatre smiled at her and took a step forward. "Do you trust me?"

She looked up at him, shaking her head. "No," She stepped backwards to the ledge,

Quatre ran forward, reaching out to grab her arm. "Wait—"

The woman was too quick. As she fell backwards over the ledge, she twisted her body around to gracefully dive into the cold, silent lake surrounding the building. The boys watched from the ledge waiting for the woman to resurface, but there was nothing but the ripples in the water.

* * *

Review!


	6. Unveiling Secrets

A/N: This is the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed the story so far. Please review at the end!

Part 6/6

Chapter 6: Unveiling Secrets

* * *

A couple days have passed since her last "heroic act" as her father calls it. She was able to capture the man in charge of selling off gundanium, but she couldn't eliminate him. She willingly gave up the man to the Preventers. It wasn't an act of kindness she was used to, but it would have to do. For now, she would stay low and hide away, especially the Preventers. She was, after all, still a wanted woman by the Preventers for eliminating Demitri Strauss.

Today, she disguised herself as a red-headed business woman to blend in with the rest of the crowd in the restaurant where she was at the present moment. The red hair fell midway behind her, and was tied in a loose ponytail. She further adorned her disguise with a dark blue two-piece suit and a black suitcase. With this disguise, she was confident that she would get by today with no chance of getting noticed. It would only be for today, of course. She always tried to make a habit of never wearing the same disguise unless necessary.

As she sat down at her table by the window, she tenderly drank her hot tea and stared at the busy streets outside. People were going about their day unaware of the evil like Strauss and Rothman. She knew that her methods weren't exactly ideal especially by the eyes of the Preventers, but it certainly got the job done of protecting the innocent.

_Kill one, save thousands, right?_ She mused, taking another sip of her tea.

Interrupting her thoughts, a vanilla envelope fell onto the table. As she looked up, the person responsible for said envelope walked over to the empty seat across from her and sat down. His blonde hair and sea-green eyes were discernible. It was that man she fooled in the café, that naïve man who went on about trust from the Preventers. She watched him carefully as he settled down before her. Was her disguise so poor? She tensed for a moment before deciding to test the waters.

"I-I'm sorry, sir. I think you've gotten the wrong table." She said innocuously.

He placed his elbows on the table, and gently pushed the envelope over to her. His charming smile never left his face. "I'm pretty sure you're the person I'm looking for. So please," He chuckled, "drop the act. I really don't mean any harm."

_No harm, huh? _She sighed, "What gave me away?"

"My secret."

"What – "

"But I might tell you if you just look inside the envelope and tell me your answer." He pushed the envelope towards her for emphasis. "Though I'm pretty sure with the contents of that letter, there's only once choice you can make."

She eyed Quatre, trying to pick up any clues to what was going on, but he gave her nothing more than a gentle smile. Her hands reached for the envelope and she tore it open. As she read it, she could feel his eyes on her. She squirmed slightly under the scrutiny and did her best to ignore it by focusing more on the letter. Quatre noticed the change in her emotions as she read the letter. First, her brows furrowed in curiosity and concentration. Second, her eyes widened, shocked at what she had read. Then, not even two seconds after shock, she shoved the letter back to Quatre's face.

Her right eye began twitching. "What…is…"

Quatre's smile never wavered. "Think of it as a contract— "

She glared, "You're joking! This is a _threat. _Why would I want— "

"Well," Quatre interjected, "it's either that or I'd have to arrest you, right here. And you really can't run off like last time."

Her brows furrowed in confusion before she looked at her surroundings. The rest of Quatre's friends had closed off all her exits. She really couldn't run off after all.

"You…got to be kidding me." Her head met the table with a loud thud, "I really don't want to work with anyone, and especially not have to answer to anyone."

Quatre chuckled. "Be grateful that it's only that."

She lifted her head slightly, miffed. "I have to work with you guys, under temporary supervision until I'm deemed 'fit'. Furthermore, I have to _live_ with you guys as precaution."

"Surely, that's better than life in prison?"

"I'm pretty sure it's the same thing."

***THUD THUD*** She began banging her head on the table. Some people around the restaurant began to stare at her. She could feel their perplexed stares boring into her skull, but she didn't particularly care. All she could think about was that this was ridiculous. She couldn't believe that she would be stuck working with them. No wait, correction, working _for_ them. By all means, she had no problem with the Preventers themselves. It was just the issue of working within a system that was already corrupted. A system she truly despised for its imbalance of justice. A horribly flawed system.

"Your dad," A gentle touch of his hand caused her to stop banging her head, "was the one who made this request with Lady Une so you wouldn't face life in prison. It took a lot of persuasion, but she finally agreed. "

"My…dad?" She slowly stared up at him, her eyes wide. _He did this for me?_

Quatre nodded, "I…didn't even know that Gerard had a daughter all this time, but I don't blame him. With what he's gone through…with the war…I think keeping you hidden was his way of protecting you."

She averted her eyes. The words were bringing up emotions from that night her father begged her to stop. She had thought that their different standpoints created a gap in their relationship that night. Whether he was disappointed or angry at her, she should've known better that her father wouldn't have abandoned her in times of trouble.

"He understands that you believe that our system is flawed, but he also believes that by working with us you'll understand that, although flawed, this system is necessary. The Preventers work with this system and it's also up to us to try to improve this flawed system. Wouldn't that be better?"

"I…don't know."

Quatre tilted his head at her. His eyes glazed over, deep in thought. "But you can try."

She felt uncomfortable under his gaze again. Although instead of showing her discomfort, she settled for a more quizzical look. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. As he smiled at her, he stood up and offered her his hand. All she did was glance at his hand and back at his face. The look of confusion on her only made him chuckle and shake his offered hand for emphasis.

"Let's go outside and walk a bit." Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the restaurant. Her protests were futile.

As she was dragged out, she tried shaking her wrist out of Quatre's grasp. She pulled, tugged, but there was no such luck. While he hauled her away from the restaurant, she noticed some of the familiar faces of Quatre's comrades joining them. They, minus Quatre who was pulling her along, watched her warily for any signs of escape. She cringed at the attention and confinement. Resigned to her fate, she stopped fighting and walked alongside Quatre.

It wasn't long before they had stopped. They stood at a regular park in the colony with no people in sight. It wasn't too surprising since the usual ones at this park were usually children, and at this time there were all in school. Quatre led her to sit down on one of the nearby benches before sitting beside her. The other boys just stood silently around them. She crossed her arms, feeling uncomfortable once again with the attention.

"Why are we here?" She threw a curious glance at the one sitting beside her.

He gave her a gentle smile. "I thought you'd be more comfortable talking here. And that way we could discuss things a little more privately. I don't think the people around there appreciated the commotion you made, _Marie_."

"That's not my name, _Kyle_." Again he began this banter. Still, she couldn't keep a small smile off her features.

"Well," Wufei started to say, "We still don't know your name."

"Or how you really look like for that matter," Trowa added.

Heero said nothing, but uttered an indistinguishable sound which she could only interpret as an agreement with the rest of the group.

"I think it's about time you tell us your name so I know who to refer my chiropractor to for the bill." Duo joked with one hand patting the opposite shoulder, referring to the night they chased Rothman down.

She blinked at them in confusion before the corners of her lips slowly twitched up. "I suppose that's fair."

Her left hand tentatively reached for her crimson wig and then pulled it away to reveal her long sable locks. She fingered her hair, untangling it from the mess it had been under the wig. Even if it had just been a wig, she left so incredibly vulnerable now. She had been so used to disguises and secret identities that her real self felt so uncanny.

"Katrina Holtzclaw. That's my real name."

* * *

Lady Une sat by her desk, her hands clasped together on the table. From the large window behind her, light flooded the room giving her the image of an almost daunting figure not to be messed with. There were papers strewn over her desk and pictures of Katrina Holtzclaw. She stared ahead in silence, seemingly deep in thought. After a few moments, she spoke.

"I have confirmation that she's agreed to the terms given."

A small chuckle was heard from across the room. The other occupant in the room ambled over to the chair placed in front of Lady Une's desk.

"It's not like my daughter had much of a choice, Lady Une. Though I'm grateful things worked out for all." Gerard stroked his mustache.

This time it was Lady Une who chuckled. "She probably wouldn't have been in such a position if _someone_ hadn't start rumors in the Preventers Headquarters in the first place."

He scoffed. "Surely you don't mean me."

"There is no one else I'm speaking to is there, Mr. Holtzclaw?"

Lady Une stood and sauntered over to the front of her desk. She crossed her arms, staring down at the creator of one of the gundams, but not to denigrate. Lady Une was interested as to why this man, her father, would concoct such a scheme to get her working for the Preventers. She sat back on her desk and opened her mouth to ask, but he interrupted.

"I suppose there's no more use in hiding it from you, but let's keep it between us." He looked firmly at Lady Une before he continued. "I know what you're planning to ask, Lady Une. My answer to that is simple: she's safer here." A benevolent smile emerged. "Katrina has been doing this as her way to protect the innocent. She believes the system is flawed and won't bring the justice that people deserve. So, she takes matters into her own hands. It's a self-destructive path. She's well aware of the risks, but even if I told her to stop, she wouldn't. She rarely listens to me when it comes to that. And I don't blame her. I just worry. But…if she's under your vigilant watch, she'll be safer."

Lady Une closed her eyes, processing his explanation. "I understand. You're a father wishing for the protection of his only daughter."

"Precisely."

"Which leads me to my next question," Lady Une narrowed her eyes, "why are you posing as her father? There had never been any record of you marrying let alone having a daughter, and then suddenly here she is."

Gerard glanced at Lady Une, slightly taken aback by the accusation. Afterwards, he laughed quietly to himself. Of course, Lady Une would have done a thorough check on him and, no doubt, Katrina. She probably had their DNA checked somehow without their knowing. He straightened himself up in his chair and began to explain.

"She's well aware that I am not her biological father, but she says she couldn't care less for that man. I've adapted the records to simply show that we are father and daughter. That's all."

"You've changed your own records as such, but her records show that you've done much more than that. You've rewritten all parts that would trace back to her past."

"Why does her past matter? Shouldn't what she does now matter more than her past?" Without waiting for Lady Une's response, Gerard stood up and turned his back, ready to leave. "The necessary information is there. That is all you need to know, Lady Une."

"You're hiding something far more than that, I'm sure." She carefully watched the man tense up somewhat before slowly striding towards the door.

Before he had touched the doorknob, she asked, "What about her biological father?"

Without missing a beat, he replied, "He's dead as far as I know."

And with that, he was out the door. Lady Une watched him leave out into the courtyards from her window. He was hiding more than he was letting on. Though for the meantime it wasn't a big concern as his daughter would be under her vigilant watch from now on.

* * *

**End**

Thank you for following the story. Yes, that's the end.

If you've read this far and are thinking, "Hey! Servatika didn't even answer who the hell is _King_!" I will assure you now, that I never intended to reveal King's identity nor did I decide to reveal more about Katrina and her past. I didn't forget or fail to write it. I'm the type of person to make sure that there are no plotholes in my story. I already have the identity and background settled somewhere in my harddrive. Whether I post it up though is another thing. I probably won't. Same with a continuation of this story. Maybe if people started to review and beg me, I might? Haha.

This story was something I started after years of having not written a single piece of fiction. To be quite honest, I'm very pleased with how this story turned out overall. I hope you, the readers, felt the same. Again thank you for following the story till it's end. Not many reviews (writers live for the reviews, come on!) but I'm sure some of you lurkers read and enjoyed it...I hope. :P

Take care!


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